RWBY: BRNS' Tale
by rilekkvanderson
Summary: When street orphan Nerik Varkos is taken in after a job, he's given a choice:Go to prison, or join Beacon Academy. When he to Beacon, he will find new friends, a new team, new enemies, and discover what his true destiny really is. RubyxOC fic, along with Monochrome. Rated M for cursing, extreme violence, a lot of pain, and much worse to come. First fic ever!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N : Hey, people. This is the my first fanfiction, and it's a little dark in places, so don't hate on it. **

RWBY: BRNS' tale

Prelude: The Incident

Darkness creeped over the nation of Vale, and the city lights shined like starts. The Schnee Dust Company Tower stands out as a mass of light, shining over everything else in the city, and all seems peaceful. However, near the bottom of the enormous tower, right outside a door for maintenance workers is a young boy, working on picking the lock to the door. His name is Nerik. Formerly an orphan, he simply roams the street and slums by himself, stealing money and fending for him and him alone.

As he picks the lock, Nerik thinks about the job he is about to do: steal video disks containing footage over any mistreatment over Faunus workers. Why they wanted it, he didn't care. The people who contracted him, the White Fang, were willing to pay a lot of money for those disks. Jiggling the one of his lock picks a certain way; he unlocked the door and smiled to himself. Go time.

Bounding up the stairs, moving two or three steps at a time, Nerik noticed that the building had a serious lack of security. The only people he had passed were several workers attempting to make their way home, and all Nerik had to do was slide past them, earning weird looks from them. But other than that, no alarms, no guards, nothing on the stairs or doors. Certainly something strange was going on. Nerik know there were at least 60 floors, and the chairman's room was at the top level. So it shocked him to see that there were only 58 floors by way of the staircase. Nerik looked at the door leading to the main floor room, and murmured, "Weird. No problem, though." He kicked down the door viciously. What greeted him didn't take so kindly to that.

Nerik was greeted by entire rows of Atlesian 130 Knights. The Knights all turned towards him, brought down their mechanized faceguards, and droned, "Intruder, Identify yourself."

Nerik looked around, searching for any way out of this. The robots surged forward, attempting to restrain him, arms reaching out. Ducking and dodging his way to the center of the room, and took his fighting stance. The robots, seeing him ready for a fight, morphed their arms into their bladed forms, and charged forward.

Activating his gauntlets, Nerik slammed his fist into the faceplate of the first droid he could reach. The gauntlets, which covered his fist in smaller, individual plates for mobility, shot forward about two inches, powered by Air Dust, with enough force to smash a car head-on. Nerik quickly dispatched a few more droids, and spotted an exit on the other side of the room, away from his entrance. Knocking away more knights, he sprinted towards the door, reaching it, and seeing more stairs. Slamming the door on the Knights, he shot upwards towards the next few floors, and did the same with the next few, until he reached a set of double doors. Going into the room, he slammed the door shut, barring it. After moments of banging from Knights on the other end, silence befell the room.

Looking around the top floor—the floor whose only one with enough wealth for the luxurious desk, with the very plush chair, and the highest caliber of computers. This was the office of Atticus Schnee, Chairman and CEO of Schnee Dust Company, and one of the wealthiest men alive.

Nerik moved quickly, poking around the room, through every desk drawer and searching for the video disks. However, he did pocket several nice-looking jewels and Dust crystals, which he kept so he could make some kind of profit off of. Finding a small latch, he found the disks labeled "Accidental Mistreatment of Faunus Workers." Seizing the disks, he slowly made his way to the door, ready to make his way down. But as he walked, he felt a slight breeze flow past his neck, and heard the unmistakable sound of moving gears.

Leaping out of the way, just as a massive Spider-droid, one that easily cracked the marble floor of the room smashed down. Standing straight, the robot was ten feet tall, easily, with four legs and twin rotating cannons on each arm. Nerik grimaced, knowing exactly what this thing was capable of, and that he needed to ask for more money once he got out of this.

The droid surged forward, already blasting at him. Nerik moving at incredible speed, ducked behind the desk. He only had one way to take down this robot, and he hated to do that. But there really was no way out of this.

Leaping over the desk, Nerik sprinted towards the robot, concentrating, and letting his Aura flare, watching as the water-like waves of energy rolled off of him, and leapt onto the Spider-droid, slightly knocking it off balance. Raising his fists clasped together, he brought down his arms onto the head of the Spider-droid, and with the power of his semblance, the droids head crumpled like aluminum foil underneath his hands.

The robot smashed through the floor, going through it, and started falling down, causing a chain reaction, pancaking the other floors beneath them. Finally reaching the ground floor, the Spider-droid, already heavily damaged at this point, was smashed to pieces, and Nerik, panting from adrenaline, rushed outside, only to find rows and rows of police, all with guns pointed straight at him, all prepared to fire. "Hands above your head!" one officer yelled, and Nerik, exhausted, his arm in pain, and not wanting to be shot, obliged. An officer moved in, handcuffed him, shoved him roughly into a car, and slammed the door shut.

Unseen by all, stood a man with a mug of steaming coffee in one hand, and a small video player in the other. He smiled. Things were going to be very interesting.

**A/N: Okay, so how was it? Was it enjoyable? If it was, please favorite and review if you liked it. And the next chapters will be in Nerik's POV. Please, again, favorite this, and help motivate me to make more chapters!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, ya'll this is the next chapter. Enjoy! Oh, and quick fav and review when you get the chance!**

Chapter 1: The Deal

The interrogation room was cold. The handcuffs on my wrists weren't helping in any way to elevate my comfort, but they never do. I tried to get them off, but apparently, the cops were getting smarter, or they just got better cuffs. Great. Just what I needed today.

After getting caught by the cops, and after my job got interrupted by the droids I had to take on, this day was just getting worse and worse. I couldn't believe that I had finally gotten in this situation, where I'm trapped with no way out. I've been arrested and put in the car, but I always got out of the car before I ended up here. Now, I had a feeling I was in for a really, really bad life.

The door opened, and a man in a nice-looking suit walked in. He wore glasses which were balanced on the bridge of his nose, and had silver hair crowning his head. His eyes were a deep, dark brown, and spoke with age, kindness, and wisdom. In one hand, he held a plate with a delicious looking sandwich on it, and in the other, he held a cup of coffee. Taking a sip from the coffee, he set the plate down, and at that moment, my stomach had decided to mimic the call of a whale. The man smiled, and said, "I would assume you're a little hungry." He unlocked my cuffs, sat down, and gestured for me to eat.

Now, under better circumstances, these being I was a little cleaner, less hungry, and a little less tired, I probably would have said some sort of smart-ass comment like, "Go fuck yourself!" or "Kiss my ass old man!", but dammit, I was really, really hungry. I hadn't eaten anything in the last three days. I scarfed down the sandwich, extremely thankful for the meal. The man in the suit simply smiled and drew a scroll from his pocket, and clicked on something. I saw video footage of me fighting the droids, and taking down the Spider-droid right after attacking me. "You've taken down several, very dangerous, and very powerful droids, with weapons crafted obviously by yourself, and all done by using a fighting technique only known by very few. And you don't even have a scratch." He set the scroll down, entwined his fingers together, and asked, "Where on Remnant did you learn those techniques?"

I said nothing, because in truth, I have no idea of where I got those techniques. I just knew them, but I wasn't going to tell this stranger that. And my weapons were crafted by me, but that was after I stole the parts to make them.

The man gave a small smile, and asked politely, "Do you know who I am?" When I shook my head to answer no, he kept going, "My name is Ozpin. I am the headmaster of a school for individuals such as you. I believe you've heard of it. Beacon Academy. And in all honesty, I'd like you to join."

I stared at him like he was crazy, which he probably was. Beacon Academy, the school of Vale's best Hunters and Huntresses, and this wackjob wanted me in this school?! What is this guy thinking?!

Ozpin could probably see the many questions I had, and smiled again." I believe that each one of my students has something special. Something that can make them great."

I couldn't help but think of my fighting abilities, my massive amount of Aura, my semblance, and the orphanage mother. My Aura could heal whatever wound I had, and with my semblance, that helped. I wished I knew why I had this gift, why I had these fighting abilities, and so much more.

"It's either that, or prison." Ozpin said, sensing my hesitation. "And I don't believe you'll like the Acroth prison.

I froze when he said that feeling all of the warmth I had drain from my body at the thought of Acroth prison. Home to the worse of the worst criminals, and governed by the General Ironwood's handpicked men, it was the worst prison in the four kingdoms. If you were wanted, and were very good at doing what I did, you were sent to Acroth prison. And I had no desire to go there.

"Okay, look." I said. "If I go with you, and you don't turn me in to the police, what am I gonna get out of this?"

Ozpin looked at me eye-to-eye and stated, "Freedom."

Freedom. Something I thought I'd never obtain. Being able to sleep without keeping one eye open at night, able to get up from a full nights sleep, to not have to worry about having to get away from the cops in the next days to come, and to have a meal when I wanted it. True, honest to god freedom.

"I'll take it." I said.

Ozpin clapped his hands. "Excellent! I'll get a guard to drop your charges against you." I smiled, and stood, already ready to walk out. "The door's locked from the inside." Ozpin said, watching me pull out my skeleton key, and unlock the door. "Ah very well then." He remarked, obviously impressed.

If he only knew what I was really capable of.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay fellas, new chapter! This had been going pretty well! Makes me very happy! Please, read and review, so and so, and forewarning, sorry about chapter length. Hopefully the next few will be a little longer.**

Chapter 2: Academy

I stared out of the window of the Bullhead, looking at the city, seeing where I'd been before: the slums, the ghettos, the richer parts of town. I thought to myself just how far down a path I was going. Where it could lead, I had no idea.

After I had left with Ozpin, his colleague, a lovely lady by the name of Professor Goodwitch, gave me an once-over, and decided I was in drastic need of new clothes. She tried her best to get me out of the clothes I was in, but I flat-out refused to cooperate, not wanting to get out of the only clothes I had, so she had me dress down, turn out every one of my pockets, and seized up my clothes, washing and fixing them, and after I had cleaned myself up, returned them. The clothes were extremely cleaner and lighter without the caked-on mud and dirt I had had before. The only problem was what I had to put back in my pockets. I still had some Lien, the still-stolen disks, and dust cartridges for my weapon, some food, and my lockpicks all had to come out so my clothes could wash. Putting all of that back in was harder than it sounds.

Anyway, back on the Bullhead, I could already see Beacon Academy, and it looked amazing getting closer. The tall spires, sprawling grounds, all incredibly ornate and massive. I was sure I could find myself plenty of hidey-holes. Hmmm…

"Hi!" spoke a chipper, bubbly, female voice from behind me. Whirling around, I saw a smiling blond little girl, with a short red skirt, a blue blouse that covered up her chest with plate guards on her arms and legs. "I'm Samantha! But you can just call me Sam. What's your name?"

I simply gave her a glare and looked away. But instead of getting the hint, she bounded in front of me, saying extremely loudly, "Not very friendly? Well, I wanna be your friend!

"Samantha, come back here." came a soft, alluring female voice. I turned and saw a sad, pale-looking young girl, with raven black hair, soft gray eyes, and a sad, almost mourning smile. She wore black jeans, a dark red long-sleeved shirt, and had a small mechanical box hanging behind her on a strap. "I don't think he wants to make friends with anyone."

"Awww, but he looks so lonely!" Sam wailed. "And I wanted to talk to someone else!"

The black-haired girl pressed her fingers to her temple. "I'm so sorry about her." she apologized. "She's just … a little too friendly. I'm Bella, by the way."

"Nerik." I replied, nodding my head, holding on to the handrail as the Bullhead landed at Beacon.

"Oh!" Sam yelled in my ear. "I heard that Beacon will let people team up! Maybe we'll be a team!"

"No." I said walking off the ship, and passing a guy who was hunched over a trashcan, hurling. Dude probably had motion sickness. Poor bastard.

"But Neeerik!" Sam wailed after me. I kept walking, until I heard an extremely loud explosion, and rushed towards the sound. As I got closer and closer, I heard a voice screaming at someone, and when I rounded a pillar, I saw a white-haired girl, wearing a dress of the same color, and shaking a vial of Dust at another girl, this one wearing a red cloak, leggings, a skirt, ruby-soled combat shoes, and a strange mechanical contraption on the back of her waist. The latter girl, I had no idea who the hell she was, but she looked like she was too young for something like this school. The former girl, however, I knew all too well. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, and the CEO's daughter.

Weiss kept shaking this vial of dust in her hand, and suddenly, after a small sneeze, maybe from the other girl, an explosion of flames, lightning, and icicles rocked the earth, and then Weiss was heard angrily screeching, "You DOLT!"

I did not want to talk to Weiss, even though I wanted to defend the girl, but I don't think that the Weiss Schnee would be too happy to see me after what happened at her father's Tower. So, I simply walked away, and walked back into the auditorium.

The place was huge. There were countless places to hide, or to just relax. Thousands of others, all soon-to-be Hunters and Huntresses were crowded around each other, murmuring and chatting to each other.

Someone bumped my shoulder, and as I turned to snarl, "Watch it, ass!" I saw who it was, and my breath caught in my throat as I saw the guy who bumped into me turn and observed me with his golden eyes, devilish smirk, and his long trench coat, hiding his weapon behind him, and his battle ready stance.

"Well, well," he said, his voice smooth as silk. "How's it going, Nerik?"

I snarled right back, "Rilek."

**A/N: WHOOOHOOHOOOO! How about that cliffhanger?! Don't worry, Rilek will get explained more in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3:

Old Friends

"Well, well! It's been a long time." Rilek said, looking me up and down. "What happened to ya? You disappeared after that little incident we had in Mistral, what with the ah, minor blow-up."

"A minor blow-up?! A Bullhead got dropped on an entire building! It's a fucking miracle that no one died!" I yelled at him. "And I told you to give me double my payment for that! Where the hell is my money?!"

Rilek simply looked at me with a face that clearly said, "You're overreacting." I glared at him, and grumbled, "So why the hell are you here, Vanderson? Scamming someone else? Because I can guarantee that you aren't here to be a Hunter.

Rilek shook his head, and said, "Dude, why else would I be here? I'm obviously going to be a Hunter. The scamming can actually wait."

I glared at him and asked, "Then how did you get here? Did you ride on your dad's money again? Cause your skill has nothing on mine."

Rilek looked away, and kept his hand on the pommel of his sword, whose name was Demon Slayer. I've seen it in use, at it's deadly in his hands. "Actually, I had this sort of epiphany when we parted ways. I really do want to be a Hunter. Don't wanna be some stupid rich kid forever. I want some form of actual meaning, and some way of getting better at using my blade. I want to actually be someone, ya know?"

I'll be honest; I was slightly taken aback by what he just said. I thought he was simply a smart-ass, and a rich one at that. It knocked me off guard that that had happened.

Rilek clapped me on the shoulder, and said, a little too loudly, "So, why are you here, eh? Oum knows you couldn't possibly get in here unless…you finally got caught doing crime, didn't you?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I got caught. What about it?" I grumbled, watching him try and contain his laughter. "If you laugh, I'm going to kill you."

Rilek barely choked down what laughter he had. "O-Okay man. Okay, I'm cool, I'm good." He smiled and shakes his head. "Good Oum, you actually got caught! The uncatchable Nerik Vakos, getting captured by the good boys in blue! Oh man!"

My face got hot as I looked away. "Shut the hell up, asshole." I growled at him.

Our attention went over to Ozpin as he stood on the stage of the auditorium, and speaking into a microphone. "I'll…keep this brief…" he said, in a tone that said that he may have been thinking of something else entirely. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge—to hone your craft and acquire new skills—and when you have finished; you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose—direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take that first step." He walked to Goodwitch, and stepped away. Goodwitch had already started to talk when Rilek started speaking next to me, "He seemed kinda…off, didn't he?"

I nodded. "It was like he wasn't even in the room, like he wasn't paying attention to what he was saying." I murmured back to him.

He nodded in return. "Alright. C'mon, Goodwitch is handing out bed rolls for us to sleep on."

I grimaced. Couldn't we already get on with this? I wanted to actually start this school thing. And as I grumbled to myself, I got tackled to the ground, with a very, very loud girl squealing in delight at the top of her lungs. "Nerik! Hi!" comes the overly-cheery and familiar voice that confirmed my fears of who just tackled me.

"Already popular, are we?" came Rileks smart-ass comment. I flipped him off, and I heard him chuckle.

"Oh! Are we gonna be sleeping altogether here? It'll be like a huge slumber party!" Sam cheered, and through her cheers, I could hear Bella yelling, "Sam! Don't be so loud! And get off of Nerik, he's getting squished under you!" and the weight on my back was lifted.

When I stood up, I noticed the girl in red getting yelled at by the Schnee girl before. A close look at her face revealed that her hair was tipped red, with silver eyes, and a cherubic, cute fa—wait, where did that come from!

Oum, this place is going to be the death of me.

**A/N: Hey guys, what's up, it's me with a brand new chapter! Thanks you guys for all of the reviews and favs from this story. Really gets me going here. And I did say this was going to be a RubyxOC fic, and so it begins! Also, just give it a fiew days.**


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been updating. School has been a total fustercluck. Anyway, here's a new chapter! Hope you enjoy, and as always Read and Review. It helps! PS: Constructive criticism only

Chapter 4: Initiation pt. 1

As I slept, I couldn't help but think of what Ozpin had said, and what the meanings behind it said. What on Remnant could he possibly be talking about?

Loud bangs woke me up no sooner had I had these thoughts in my head. Groaning, I shifted my head and looked down from my position in the rafters to see other students were already up and moving about.

Why was I in the rafters? Sam. She was the entire reason I was in the rafters. The extremely hyper, happy, and clingy girl had kept me imprisoned in a hug of death, at least, until I managed to wiggle out, and escape up to the rafters. Now, I leapt down, knowing I would easily land on my feet. Unfortunately, I landed on someone else instead of my own feet.

"AAAAHH!" the girl I had the misfortune to land on screamed in shock. I gave a similar shout, but mine sounded more like: "OW!"

Groaning, I rolled off the body I had landed on, and was about to apologize to her, when I saw who it was: the red-haired girl from before. "Did you have to land on me?" she groaned.

"My bad, didn't know anyone was below me." I apologized. "I'm Nerik." I extended my hand to help her up, which she accepted. "Do you always land on people? Or am I just a special case?" she pondered.

"Eh, I like to get to high places when I sleep. Let's me jump down in a pretty cool style." I explained, embarrassed. Sad part was, this wasn't exactly false. "Usually I don't land on people unless it's by accident, or I totally meant to."

"Soooo…you don't like me?" she asked, all confused. "N-No! That was just an accident!" I explained quickly trying to say that I wasn't a bad person, and this ended up getting her to giggle.

Giggle. In a combat school.

God Oum, who is this girl?!

"I'm Ruby. Nice to meet ya!" she exclaimed holding out her hand. I shook hers and said, "Aren't you a little young to be in Beacon?"

She blushed at that and responded, "Yeah, but I got ahead by two years."

Holy fucking shit! Two years?! This chick is either and incredible genius, or just incredibly lucky. Either way, it was incredible. And at that moment, a long-haired blonde bounded up out of nowhere and wrapped her arm around Ruby. "Hey Rubes! Who's this dude? He's kinda hot." She said waggling her eyebrows at me.

I couldn't help but chuckle as the two talked and bickered like siblings. It was pretty funny. I turned to walk away, and got sidelined by Rilek. "Dude, where the hell have you been?!" he yelled at me. "We gotta go! We were supposed to be by the Cliffside for initiation almost an hour ago. C'mon!" With that, Rilek sprinted away.

Cliffside? Initiation? What the…at this moment my brain had finally finished uploading the info I needed and then…Oh, my goddammit!

About a half an hour later, I finally found the cliffs, sprinting past other students and going to some sort of square panel built into the ground.

"Welcome students. Glad you all could make it." Ozpin said, smiling at me, and then Goodwitch giving me a dirty look. "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."  
>No problem at all. I slipped on my sunglasses, which were stolen when I first started getting good at it. I looked to my left as I hear clanking noises. I see other students getting launched off of the Cliffside.<p>

"Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path," Ozpin warned. "Or you will die."

Interesting. So we have to survive? Seems easy enough. I braced myself, and the next thing I knew, I'm launched in the air. I see Rilek, Bella, Ruby, and Sam all flying in the same direction as I was. I also saw a poor soul flipping around and around, all the while screaming like a girl.

Damn. Some people just aren't cut out for this sort of thing.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I'm late. School's been trying to kill me, and teachers are just being a little mean. But, I digress. Here is your now new chapter! As always please R&R, and only constructive and positive criticism please!**

**I don't own RWBY or have any affiliation with Roosterteeth. All rights belong to them.**

Chapter 5: Initiation pt. 2

This is a nice looking forest, I thought to myself as I slammed my gauntlet covered fists into a tree in order to break my descent. I slowed down enough to where I could flip down to the ground, and land feet-first.

Looking up, I see Rilek flying above me, screaming in joy at the top of his lungs. Not a moment later, I heard the cry of, "Birdie, no!" from a very familiar voice. Ruby! I look up and see that Ruby is flying at incredible speeds, her cloak billowing behind her.

Charging in the direction she was going, I run through shrubbery and bushes, until I ran headfirst into some sort of black shape. I fell back, landing on my rear end. Rubbing my head, I was about to shout at the person I had run into, until I found out that I hadn't run into a person at all.

A Beowulf Alpha. Its pack wasn't anywhere to be found, and as it faced me, it snarled menacingly. I leapt back to gain distance, and stood ready to attack. The Alpha swiped at me with its incredibly sharp claws, and hit the earth as I moved away, shifting my center of gravity in order to slam one of my fists into its chest, and another to its right shoulder. The monsters shoulder blew apart from the force of my punch, and its ribs shattered on impact, lacerating its organs and killing it from the inside.

As it died, its body disintegrated, and the next moment that I look around to see if anything else was there. Sure enough the former Alphas pack had arrived, and was extremely angry with me. A couple of them took swipes at me, jaws snapping in roars of anger. I stood ready, prepared to kill more of the monsters, and—

Watched as a dark blur flew around, slicing into the monsters hides, and within seconds, the entire pack was already disintegrating. A closer look at their slayer (and hopefully my new ally) revealed a familiar form, wielding twin black daggers. The daggers disappeared as she rose up, spotting me, and cried. "Hiii Nerik!"

Good Oum, why? Why did it have to be Sam?

The girl in question bounded up to me as I tried to turn and walk away, blocking my every escape. "Yay! We're partners now!" she cried happily. I glared at her, hoping to get her away from me, but to no effect. "So, what are we gonna do now, Nerik? Got any clue, my new partner?"

"Okay," I started. "Firstly, since when were we partners?"

"Ozpin said that the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next few years," she explained. "Didn't you hear that?" A glare from me told her no. "So we're partners now!" she said.

I groaned inwardly. "Second. How did you move that fast? I've never seen anyone move that fast before."

Sam cocked her head to one side. "You mean my semblance? Shadow travel?" she asked. "I can basically move between shadows, but I have to be in the same area as the shadow I'm traveling into. I can't go too far without either killing myself or ending up somewhere I'm not supposed to be." She scratched her head in a manner that said she was embarrassed, despite having a massive grin on her face. I sighed. "Alright fine, so we're partners. May as well get used to that fact."

Sam cheered in happiness. "So what do we do now?"

I thought for a moment, and decided. "We go north."

Sam frowned. "Why are we going north? And I don't have a compass, so I don't know where north is."

I pointed to the sky. "Sun is rising from the east. East is that way." I pointed to my right, and then pointed behind me. "As to why, Ozpin said that the temple relics we were collecting are north of where we started."

"Sam looked at me with wonder in her eyes. "That's so cool! Where'd you learn that stuff?"

"You learn it quickly from where I come from." I answered her, not wanting to give out too much information, but of course, Sam decided to ask twenty questions at top speed, asking about where I was from over and over again.

"Sam, you aren't gonna—do you smell that? I asked, smelling something burning. A quick look around, and I spotted a pillar of smoke rising above the trees. "Dammit, a forest fire. Sam, move it!"

Sam, silent for once, was mesmerized by the smoke. Pressing for time, I grabbed her by the waist, picked her up, and carried her, running as fast as I could.

The strangest thing was when I looked back at Sam to see if she was okay, I saw that she had her eyes squeezed shut, and she was saying something over and over under her breath.

**Whoahohoho! Sam's got some sort of skeleton in her closet! Wonder what it could be? :D Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thanks for reading this! See ya!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6: Initiation pt. 3

Gasping for air, I stopped near some rock outcroppings, dropping Sam gently against a rock face. I plopped down next to her, panting. "Well, that was certainly something. You okay, Sam?" I said, looking back to her. She was shaking visibly, clearly afraid of something.

"Hey, Sam.: I said, nudging her. "Sam. Sam!" I started to yell at her, trying to get her out of this state and to respond to me, when she suddenly threw her arms around my chest and sobbed into my shoulder.

Why she was doing this, I had no idea. Her actions thus far were a downright mystery to me. I barely knew this girl, didn't know anything about her, or what happened to her past, but this obviously had something to do with it.

Trying to calm her down, I hesitantly put my arm around her, comforting her in any way I could. As soon as I did that, her sobbing slowed down. A moment later, the sobbing eventually turned into sniffling, and she finally calmed down a little. "Sorry," she said hoarsely. "You must think I'm stupid, huh? Afraid of a little smoke." She smiled lopsidedly.

I shook my head. "Nah you're alright. It's good to be afraid." I told her softly. "Everyone's got a fear of something. I've got one. Well, several, but that's not the point."

Sam looked at me and asked such a strange, innocent question, it almost made me think she was a five-year-old: "What could you be afraid of?"

Oh, man. What a question to ask. Where do I even begin? My fear of being controlled without me knowing it? The one of insects (seriously, anything with more than four legs is creepy)? Or maybe…

"My fear of losing anyone closest to me." I murmur. "I've always had that."

Sam leaned against me and said. "I don't like fire."

"Well, I would've guessed that." I said, putting a smile on her face. "But why exactly are you scared of flames? Not that it isn't bad."

Her smile faded at my query. "I-I don't like to talk about it." She buried her face into my now-wet shoulder. "It's not something I like to talk about."

I squeezed her a bit. "Don't worry. You won't have to." I told her. "By the way, your tears are gonna leave one hell of a stain on my jacket."

She giggled, and then a voice crowed from above us. "Awww…look at you two. Perfect couple!" Rilek said. I looked up and see him leaning over the rocks, with the biggest smirk on his face.

"YOU!" I yelled, my face already growing hotter by the second. Rilek launched himself in the air, and landed next to me, laughing all the while. "Oum, you guys are so hilarious!"

I looked towards Sam, who was currently being smothered in a massive hug by Bella, with whom knew a little bit of what had happened from Sam.

"So, you're Bella's new partner, eh asshole?" I growled at Rilek. He just smiled. "Long story short," he started with his smartass smirk. "She helped me out from a bunch of Ursai. I could have handled them—"

"But he was worried about 'style points' as he called it, and didn't see them coming." Bella interjected, still having a tight hold on Sam.

"Yeah, that sounds like him." I agreed, a smirk creeping over my face.

"Hey, Bella. Ya might wanna let go of Sam over there." Rilek said, smiling devilishly. Oh, this isn't going to end well. "Nerik might want to hold her for just a bit longer."

"That's it!" I yelled, throwing my fist towards him. He nimbly leapt out of the way, and then leaned casually on the rock wall. I charged at him again, hitting nothing but the rock with a dull thud.

Wait a minute…

"Uh, guys? Something's wrong with this rock." I called, backing away slowly. We all faced the rocks, praying that this was just some stupid rock, that nothing bad was going to happen, even as a large, red eye opened, and glared straight at us. We all did the smart thing then and ran, even when we heard the rumbling of the very earth moving upward.

"The hell is that thing?!" Rilek screamed over the noise. "It's gigantic!"

"It's one of the rarest types of known Grimm. I think it's almost one of the most ancient." Bella yelled back. "It's a Draon!"  
>The massive Grimm, finally out of the earth, roared, its giant lizard-like maw spewing out a great tongue of flames. Then the thing turns to us, and began to move slowly, then speeds up, its tail swinging in wide arcs, smashing through the trees.<p>

We had to get away from that thing?! My luck _can't _be this bad.

**A/N: Okay, so a few words before I sign off. Firstly, there will be one last chapter in the Emerald Forest, so be patient. Also, that last chapter will be hopefully a longer chapter. Secondly, I can't guaruntee a new chapter. I will try my best though! As always thanks so much for your support! Please read and review!**


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